


Vipers kiss

by myotishia



Series: Psyonic [10]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: Jack is called to the hospital where he finds an injured John with an interesting story.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Series: Psyonic [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766956
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34





	1. Snake eyes

When Jack had been called to the hospital he wondered if his ex partner had finally reached a point where the alcohol had just replaced his blood and it had sent him to A&E. It had not. As he walked into the hospital room he found John hooked up to an IV, bruising covering one side of his face and a deep gash was neatly stitched up over his right eyebrow. His left arm was held in a sling. According to the nurse he’d been found unconscious in the street, beaten and bloodied with no form of identification or anything else for that matter. The police suspected he’d been mugged. When he’d woken up he’d insisted they call a man called Jack and had given them a number, one he only just remembered. 

“So, what happened?” Jack asked, closing the door behind him. 

John opened his unbruised eye. “Nice to see you too. Someone didn’t like losing a bet and they decided they were going to take everything I had. Snake eyed bastard.”

“So you called me.”

“They took everything. Weapons and my vortex manipulator included. I’m trapped here and twenty first century painkillers are shit.”

“They’d work just fine if you didn’t have a resistance to almost all the substances they use in this time.”

“I have the worst hangover so not even your baby blues can stop me from wanting to punch you right now.”

He chuckled. “Ok, ok. I’ll help you get your vortex manipulator back.”

“And the rest?”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Just get me out of here before they try and feed me their sorry excuse for food again.” He sat up and carefully swung his legs off the bed. “It’s worse than boot camp rations.” 

“It’s hospital food. It’s not going to be good. Where are your clothes?”

“Ask the nurse. I’ve only been conscious for a few hours.”

“So, who’s betting this is all another con?” Asked Owen, rocking back in his chair. 

Gwen nodded. “Of course it is. That or there’s someone even more kill crazy than he is.”

“Or he got himself drunk enough to walk into a road or something.”

“Either way if Jack’s bringing him back here, what are we going to do?” 

“Lock him in a cell?” Ianto suggested, placing a box of donuts down on the coffee table. 

Owen moved to grab one before all the chocolate ones had gone. “With Tex.”

“Don’t tempt me. If I give him three hours there’ll be nothing left.” 

“Maybe he’s learned his lesson.” Tosh reached over and took her own donut. “It did sound like he was in a state.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Hearing two sets of footsteps they looked to the door that led up from the garage to see Jack walk in followed by John, still sporting his red jacket but minus his shirt. The blood stains had been a bit much for walking around in the open according to Jack and in reply the shirt had been removed and thrown in the nearest bin. It hadn’t exactly been easy getting his jacket on so he wasn’t wrestling himself into a shirt just to take it off again. He’d thought it was a brilliant idea until he’d walked out into the autumn air that bit at his exposed skin. Just another in a list of regrets he’d collected since arriving back on Earth. Right under not shooting that fang faced arsehole in the head the second they met. But that would have broken his six month no kill record and he wasn’t going to let a tosser like that break it. 

“Miss me?” He grinned, receiving dead silence and glares in reply. “Look, I get it. I wasn’t the best guest last time I was here but this time it isn’t my fault.”

Jack glanced at him. “That’s to be determined. You still need to explain exactly what happened.” 

“Can I have those painkillers first? My head is killing me.”

“Fine. Owen, could you? Otherwise all we’re going to get is complaints.” 

Owen gave a sceptical nod and walked off to retrieve some of the Torchwood grade painkillers. As much as he’d love to give John a punch for himself, he didn’t look in great shape so the doctor decided to offer a little mercy. Ianto had followed in the bare bones show of goodwill and went to grab a tee shirt from the supply cupboard. They have a whole host of clothing spare for those who’d been dropped into the twenty first century with nothing. It was very basic but it was something. As soon as John was a little warmer and the throbbing pain in his head had subsided he finally got around to explaining what had happened. 

“I heard about this high stakes card game. The prize was meant to be worth a fortune but the organiser was keeping what it actually was hush hush. I thought, why not? I walk into a back room where there’s two of your typical gambler types, haven't won a game in years, a guy the size of a tank, but he didn’t look like there was much going on behind the eyes, a woman who looked way out of her depth and the organiser. He had golden eyes, like a snake, and fangs to match. He was bad news, I could feel it, but as I was the only one in the room armed I wasn’t worried about it. Everything started out just fine. I didn’t even have to cheat. One of the gamblers broke down after the third round, rambling on about how he’d lost everything or something. The usual. The snake just looked at him and he started to choke, foaming at the mouth, trying to crawl away. He made it to the door and the snake let him go, laughing the whole time. I mean I’m twisted, but that was a bit much. The big guy was next to drop out, but not before trying to choke the snake out. He ended up on the floor too. Looked like he’d been poisoned. I think the snake would have killed him if the girl hadn’t begged for his life. She folded and helped the poor bastard out. So there was just me, the other gambler and the snake left. I decided if I lost the next hand I was walking out of there and not looking back. But I didn’t. Lucky me. The gambler dropped out and made a run for it. The snake was cackling the whole time. He collected the cards and finished his drink before putting a case on the table. He opened it to show this orb made of pure gold with a jewelled eye in the centre. I couldn’t leave it behind after that. Then… Then I remember it feeling like my lungs were on fire, bugs crawling under my skin. I could barely feel my legs as the snake walked over. He kicked me in the head and then… Nothing. Lights out. Woke up in the hospital.” He looked legitimately shaken by the experience.

Jack crossed his arms. “So, this snake has your vortex manipulator.”

“He’s got everything. And I mean everything.”

“Where exactly?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Try.”

“I’m sorry, is my concussion an issue for you?”

After a long silence Jack looked up. “There’s one way we could bring your memory back. Or at least get some details from whatever’s left.”

“No!” Gwen and Ianto snapped in unison. 

He raised his hands, trying to calm the sudden outburst. “Woah there. I’m not going to leave her alone with him.”

“They’re right. That’s a bad idea.” Owen agreed, that bad feeling rising in his stomach. 

Ianto walked past and pulled Jack by the arm, just out of earshot. “Every mind Melody reads leaves things behind. You can’t ask her to do that.”

“She’s been in a lot worse and she’s got out just fine.”

“Fine? You call her being paranoid all of last month fine?!”

“That wasn’t because of the dalek.”

“No, it was the minds of all those people who died. Just a second and it imprinted.” He glanced over his shoulder and John waved with his good hand, winking. 

“Ianto, I promise I’ll keep what she comes into contact with controlled. You know I wouldn’t even consider it if it wasn’t necessary. A vortex manipulator in the wrong hands could cause irreparable damage across time.”

He sighed. “Fine… Just explain to her what she’s getting herself into first. In fact, let me explain, you keep an eye on him.”

“Yes sir.” Jack said, trying to keep a straight face. 

“So, you want me to just dig up what happened? I can do that.” Mel smiled, just happy to be included after being stuck chatting to a lovely woman who had a habit of repeating herself more than ten times before changing the subject and repeating the process. She was nice, but it was hard to keep looking interested. Plus the signs of dementia always hit harder when you could hear the misfires and slow degradation in the brain. That was just Thursday mornings for you. Lonely people looking for anyone to talk to, hidden in a place where anyone barely noticed, that looked as partially forgotten as they had been. Ianto had been doing the same for years. He didn’t move to open the door right away. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

He was so clearly uncomfortable that it would make anyone a little nervous. “Be careful. John’s dangerous, unstable… Jack can try and keep him on a short tether, but there’s always a chance of him thinking up some con and he won’t even blink before turning against us.”

“Don’t worry. I can handle this.” She grabbed a sketchbook and pencil case then opened the door. Down in the hub the air had a tenseness to it, like the moments leading up to a typical horror jump scare. The man she didn’t recognise looked like he’d been hit by a car and honestly didn’t look like much of a threat. Looks could be deceiving, she knew that, but this man was working with the use of only one arm and no depth perception. The strangest thing for her was that she couldn’t hear his thoughts. Like Jack he was silent, completely blocking her out. He studied her for a fraction of a second but he’d gathered all the information he needed to. John had been good at that back in the day. From the way she held herself he knew that she was a generally anxious person, but the way she looked at everyone like a puppy would to a new owner said she would do anything to be useful, needed. She dressed to mirror Ianto, so he guessed that was who was her direct superior and the one she most wanted to fit in with. Her fringe hanging over her eyes in a way that had to be annoying was hiding something. He wasn’t sure of what but he knew that eye contact would be unwise. Not that he planned to fight her but physically she looked to be a pushover. It all begged the question, why was she here?

“Mel, this is John. I’m hoping you can dig up a few details about what happened to him.” Jack smiled, trying to act casually. 

She nodded. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Why do I feel like I’m missing something here? You’re the master of interrogation so how’s bringing in the fun size version of eye candy over there going to help?” John said, looking between them awkwardly as a pain in his neck twinged. 

Jack gave him a withering look. “She’s a telepath. Just think about what happened and she’ll put the pieces together.”

“Her?”

“Yes.”

“Ok.” He side eyed her.

She pulled over a chair and sat, placing her sketchbook on her lap looking completely calm. “This shouldn’t take too long.” 

“Go ahead. It’s not going to be that easy-” As the final syllable left his lips he felt the mental barrier melt away as if it was made of wet tissue paper hung up in a storm. Flashes of memory from the card game drifting up and leaving again just as quickly. The face of the snake stayed the longest as he heard the sound of pencil being softly scraped across paper. He didn’t know how long his mind was swimming but he did know that his recollection of events had been a little off. He couldn’t be blamed for that after the head trauma but it was still a surprise. Everything had been correct until the snake opened the box. At first it did look like a pure golden orb with a jewel encrusted eye, but when he picked it up he realised it was much too light. It was a fake. His temper had flared and he’d smashed the thing on the table, sending chunks of plastic across the surface. The snake had laughed, finding his reaction very entertaining. It had grinned at him and told him that he’d been set up and he could walk out alive if he handed over everything he was carrying. He’d told them they’d have to kill him and that’s when the pain had started. The large guy had returned, obviously in on it, and began the beat down. The moment before he lost consciousness he heard the snake hiss that he should come and find them. See how much he could burn on the way. He snapped from the memory to see the woman in front of him sketching the face of the snake. 

“How are you feeling?” She asked, not looking up from her drawing. 

He blinked his good eye and tried to get his bearings. “I’m… Conscious?”

“That’s a good start. Try not to move yet, you might fall over.”

“The hell did you do to me?”

“Your mental defences are directly linked to your level of consciousness. Once I got past them you spaced out.”

“That should have taken hours!”

“It took me three minutes to get in and thirty two to compile the information.”

He pulled himself away from his confusion and reassessed her. Her pose was more relaxed, her fingers moving precisely across the page as she smoothed the shading of the image. She wasn’t looking for approval anymore, in fact if it was given he doubted she’d even acknowledge it. It was as if she was a different person and it made him on edge. Even so, he saw Gwen standing just behind her, watching him like a hawk. What did they think he was going to do? Headbutt her? He was reckless and vicious but he wasn’t stupid. Melody held up the picture to confirm it was correct. 


	2. Snake charming

“Hey! I’m the victim here.” John hissed as Jack closed the cell door.

“It’s just until we get back.”

“What do you think I’m going to do?! I’m short one arm and I can’t walk without tripping over myself.”

“John, I’ve seen you take out a room of fully armed men with a broken ankle and dislocated shoulder.”

“I’m six months clean. No deaths.”

“And I support that but I have people I need to protect. You’ll be safe here anyway.” He walked up the hallway to leave.

“Jack!... You can’t just leave me here!... Jack!” He kicked the cell door before conceding and going to lie down on the bench. It was twenty minutes before he heard footsteps. They were lighter than Jacks thumping boots. Gwen maybe? No, she always wore shoes with very soft soles, these had more of a thud to them, more structure. He sat up to see Melody pulling a chair over to the window of the cell. He raised an eyebrow, at least he tried to, but the swelling was too bad to actually move that side of his face. “What do you want, fun size?”

“Just to talk, if you don’t mind.”

“I thought Jack would have told you to stay far away from me when you didn’t have a bodyguard.”

“He did.” 

“Oh… Right.” He sounded a little dejected. He’d been trying to be better but of course Jack didn’t know that. 

Melody gave him a sympathetic look. “You hate that you love him as much as you do.”

“What?”

“Jack. That’s why you were in this time and on this nowhere planet.”

He narrowed his good eye. “How much of my mind did you dig into.”

“I didn’t. It’s really obvious. I looked up the file on you and if you were the same person you were the last time you were here you would have shot everyone in that room about half way through the game.”

“Right… Why are you telling me this? What’s your angle?”

“Everyone’s so caught up in thinking about what the snake could do with your vortex manipulator they’re missing the point. The snake didn’t kill you when he easily could have. He didn’t leave you in the room to die. He made sure you were somewhere you’d be found and the pub was not only busy, but also relatively close to the hospital.”

“So, he wanted you lot to get in contact with me?”

“Yes and no. Your link to us is just a perk. He wants you to go after him and cause as much chaos as possible on the way. If you were to kill all of us in the process it would just be a bonus.”

He considered the theory and it did make sense. As soon as he could see out of both eyes, and move his arm again, he had planned to go and get his equipment back himself. “Why are you telling me this? Thinking of going rogue?”

“No. But when you do get out I want you to remember that the more damage you cause the more the snake wins and the less Jack will believe that you’re trying to change. Trying to appeal to your better nature would never work but your sense of competitiveness and rebelliousness is another matter. I just don’t want any of my friends to get hurt.” She shrugged, playing with the circular pendant at the end of a thin, silver, chain. 

He leaned forward on his knees. “So you’re asking me to play nice. Do me a favour first. What’s going on with you? One minute you’re a shy, nervous, little lapdog and the next you’re like a machine. Which are you really?”

“Oh… You mean when I read your mind. Sometimes when I’m using my telepathy the emotional centres of my brain have to help with the mind reading so they stop functioning in the same way. It dulls any surface feelings out. Like mild anxiety, amusement, fear. That kind of thing. Anything stronger stays but it might not show. It’s… Creepy.”

“Huh… The Time Agency would have snapped you up. You’ve got that awkward, cutesy, trying too hard, kind of charm. You could waltz around wherever you want undetected and you wouldn’t even have to get anyone drunk. No wonder Jack wants you protected.”

“Um.. Thank… You?... I think? 

He laughed, wincing as the aches in his body flared. “What species are you anyway? I mean you look human.”

“I am human. I’ve been tested and everything.”

“Now I know you’re lying. What’s under the fringe? Antennae? Third eye?”

She closed her eyes and lifted her fringe to show nothing out of the ordinary. “Nope.”

“If I ask about anywhere else-”

“Ok, before you say anything I’m very gay.” Her cheeks flushed bright red. 

“Not even a little bit curious?”

“Not in the slightest.”

He sighed and laid back on the bench. “Fine. You should get out of here before daddy Jack comes back and you get told off.”

Owen and Gwen walked into the small pub. It was almost deserted so early in the day but the barman offered them a smile none the less. 

“Morning both. What can I get you?” He asked.

Gwen gave a polite smile in return. “We were actually hoping to ask you a few questions about the man that was found just outside?”

“Oh yea. Terrible thing that. I didn’t even hear a scuffle or anything but the poor bloke looked like he’d lost a fight with Mike Tyson.”

“We were wondering, that night, was there a private room booked here?”

“We’re not that fancy here love, but we’ve got an old stockroom we sometimes let small groups play cards and such in. No gambling mind you. Just for fun.” 

“Do you have a record of who’s used the room? A phone number? Anything?”

“Up until now we haven’t needed to, sorry. I’ll have a look and see if they used a card to buy any drinks.”

“That’d be great, thanks.” 

He nodded politely and walked off to check his records. In the meantime Owen perched on one of the bar stools. “What now then?”

“Hopefully Jack and Tosh’ll have more luck... Is it just me or did John seem different?”

“Last time he wasn’t walking in with his tail between his legs looking to fix his problems.”

“I just mean in general.”

He shrugged. “Maybe after what happened with Jacks brother he started rethinking things.”

“Maybe.”

“He’d still sell us out for something shiny.”

“Well yea. I don’t think he’s changed that much… I’ve always wondered what makes a person … You know…”

“A psychopath.”

“I suppose.”

“Some people are just wired that way. Others it could be the result of a head injury. Damage the frontal lobe in the wrong way and it can switch off all impulse control. It’s common in serial killers.”

“Head injuries?”

“Yea. Mostly when they were kids. Mix that with a messed up home life and no therapy available and you sometimes get people whos whole life is just violence. If you ask me John’s the type to try and self medicate with whatever he can get hold of. Booze, drugs, sex, it’s all a temporary high to try and slow all the traumatic shit in his head.”

She rubbed his arm. “Are you ok?”

“Yea… Just on edge with him around.”

The barman reappeared with a copy of a receipt. “The one lad only paid cash but this one used a card. Huge bloke he was, sounded American. It’s not much but I hope it helps.” 

“Thanks.” Owen took the receipt and slipped it into the inner pocket of his jacket. 

Ianto cursed his luck sometimes. Just after Jack had left he’d gotten a frantic call from his sister. A pipe had burst in the night, adding gallons of water to the damage of what had been a small leak, leading to the living room ceiling collapsing. The ground floor was flooded and they couldn’t trust how stable the second floor was. She was forlornly sitting on the front doorstep when he pulled up. 

“Sorry to pull you away from work.” She said, not sounding herself. She was tired, worried, stressed. 

“It’s ok. Are you on your own?”

“Johnny’s at work and I sent the kids to school so it’s just me.”

“Have you called the insurance?”

“Of course I have. They’re sending out a plumber and one of their lot to look at the damage but… I know this is a lot to ask but can we stay at yours for a couple of nights? Just until the insurers get their act together.”

“I can pay for a hotel.”

“You know Johnny won’t accept that. He’s too bloody proud for his own good.”

He looked through the open door and could see the edge of the devastation, piles of towels holding back the water from where she was sat. He let out a long sigh. “Ok. I can ask a friend to borrow some camp beds-” He was cut off by Rhiannon wrapping her arms around him. 

“Thank you. I promise we’ll try not to get in your way.”

“It’s ok. I probably won’t be there anyway. Do you have my address?”

“Since you moved? No.” 

He’d moved to a new flat around a year ago. At the time he’d found a place big enough for two so it was more comfortable when Jack stayed with him. Part of him had even wanted to ask Jack to move in with him permanently, but he knew the man would never agree to it. It isn’t that he wouldn’t want to, he just had an unshakable need to be ready for the next rift alert or invasion. Apparently you couldn’t do that in comfort. 

He sent her the address in a text. “There you go. Why don’t you ask one of the neighbours to sit with them. There’s no point in you sitting on the step all day.”

“I will. We’ll try and be at your around five.”

He nodded and gave a slight sympathetic smile before heading back to the car. Once inside and back on the road he called back to the hub. 

“Hi. Is everyone ok?” Melody asked.

“They’re fine. They’re going to stay at my flat for a couple of nights. Can I borrow a couple of camp beds?”

“Of course. If you’ve got my spare key you can just go and grab them.”

“Thanks.” He relaxed a little. “Is John behaving?”

“He’s asleep I think.” 

“Good. I’m sorry for leaving you like this.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind at all. Anyway, it’s an emergency.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Take care of yourself.”

Tosh grumbled to herself as she lost the signal she’d been following for the third time. “I’m sorry Jack, this isn’t working.”

“Time agency models of the vortex manipulators weren’t meant to be able to be tracked. The fact that you even got a general area is impressive.”

“I suppose it shows that it hasn’t been used yet.” She looked around at the unassuming street. It was a little run down, but other than that it looked like any other street. “Though I don’t think it’s actually moved.”

“If it’s being stored here then we can try and dig into who lives around here and hopefully link them to the attack. In the meantime we should get back before John gets too bored.” 

“Are you alright after what happened last time he was here?”

“It wasn’t his fault… Gray wasn’t in his right mind and he knew that but I honestly believe he was trying to help.”

“Have you heard anything about how he is?” She asked softly, not wanting to reopen old wounds.

He looked up to the clear, cold, sky. “Not much improvement. He’s sleeping more but that’s it. I don’t know if he’ll ever really recover.”

“You’re giving him the best chance to.”

“I hope so.” He smiled sadly.

  
  



	3. Cotton mouth

“It looks like the tall man at the card game was someone we’ve run into before.” Gwen began. “Donald Harrison, thirty two, originally from Texas and one of the three buyers from last month.”

Jack frowned. “I thought they’d been arrested.”

“They had. The van used to transport them went missing along with everyone inside it.” 

“And that didn’t raise any red flags?”

“It should have but let’s be honest, anything connected with Osiris has been pulling this kind of thing.”

“Do we have an address for Harrison?”

“Not exactly, but with a little digging and a lot of help from Tosh’s research I’ve found where they’re hiding out.”

“Then let’s pay them a visit. -” He glanced around. “Where’s Ianto?”

Melody looked over her shoulder as she was finishing the washing up. “He had a family emergency. He should be back soon.”

“I guess it gives me time to check on John.”

“He was asleep last time I checked the cameras.” 

He jogged down to the cells, finding John staring at the ceiling. “Told you I’d be back.”

“Great.” He replied flatly, sitting up. “Am I allowed out of my box now?”

He swiped his pass and the door slid open. “For now. Here.” He held out a black card.

“What’s this?”

“Enough for you to lay low in a hotel until we can sort this.”

“You want me to just sit around?”

“I know it’s against everything you stand for.”

“Can I get room service?”

“Yes, but no booze.”

He sighed and took the card. “You used to be more fun than this.”

“I’m still fun, just not with-”

“Me. Yea, yea, I know.” 

“John, are you ok?” Jack asked sincerely. All hesitation aside he was worried about his friend.

He leaned against the doorframe. “I’m sober, so no. I’m trapped here waiting until someone else sorts out getting my things back, nothing but what’s left of my clothes to my name and only twenty first century painkillers to tide me over. I was never good at laying low.”

“It won’t be for long.”

“Three months ago I would have had people to bail me out.”

“What changed?”

“They wanted in on a messy job and I said no. I told you, I’m six months clean. Anyway, they didn’t come back. I looked into it. They walked right into an off world drug bust. It was a massacre.”

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be. They were scum even by my standards. I don’t even really know why I came here after that.”

Jack shrugged. “It’s quiet.”

“It’s dead.”

“Those bruises beg to differ.”

“I said I’d never come back after Gray.” He looked down at the scars around his wrist where his vortex manipulator usually sat. “Is he…”

“Trying to recover.”

“Right… Are you and eye candy-”

“Still together. Still monogamous.”

“I’ve seen the looks you both give me.”

Jack chuckled. “I can still look.”

“If you both get tired you know where I am.”

“Staying out of trouble at a hotel?”

“It’s not going to be a cheap one and I will be raiding the mini bar.”

“I didn’t expect anything else from you, just no ordering extra.” 

Donny stared out of the small bedroom window. He’d always been big and scary looking but he had never been violent before. He hated it. He hated this whole situation. It was meant to just be a simple job that paid out enough to half way make it worth it. Just a favour to Zach. And now he was trapped a long way from home under the command of some alien psychopath. Even the hooker from the game had been more worried about him than his so called friends. He considered just walking to the nearest police station and handing himself in. At least then he could maybe go to jail in his own country. Anywhere was better than this. He walked across to the noticeboard that had all of the information they’d collected on the girl that killed the dalek and pulled down a picture, slipping it into his back pocket. Maybe he could warn her. Or get the police to warn her. Hands in his pockets he descended the stairs. 

“Hey, where you going?” Asked Zach from the living room. 

Across from him Apep was lounging on one of the old armchairs. “Yes Donny, where  **are** you going?”

“Just need some air.” Donny said, sounding as depressed as he felt. 

“Not thinking of running away, are you?”

“Where would I even go?”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

Zach gave a slightly panicked glance to his friend. “No boss. He’d never. He’s the most loyal guy I know. Tell him Donny, you’re not leaving, right?”

“I’ve got to move you three anyway. Two of Torchwoods agents were snooping a little too close to this place today.” Apep pulled himself out of the chair. “Wouldn’t want them getting involved too soon.”

As scared as Donny felt he couldn’t stand to be around this guy any longer. He reached for the handle of the front door before being pulled back, sprawling across the hallway carpet. 

“Don’t tell me you’ve lost your nerve Donny boy?” The snake eyed man hissed, looming over him.

“I’m done! I can’t do this anymore! Just let me go!”

“Ok.”

“Huh?” He grabbed the wall for support. 

“Go ahead, you make it to the door and you’re free to go.”

He tried to scramble to his feet but his head began to spin, the world feeling as if it was shifting under him. His stomach lurched as he tried to crawl towards the light that poured through the small window at the top of the door. He just had to get to the door. That was all. Not six feet away was freedom, he just needed to will his body to get there. Every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire and he could barely breathe, foam running down his chin. He could distantly hear Zach begging Apep to stop before all sound was washed away by a high pitched tone. His arm began to seize only millimetres from the door handle and the world went black. 

With Jack satisfied that John would be out of trouble and Ianto back, if a little flustered, he headed to the address that the card had been used to rent. There was no car parked outside and there didn’t seem to be any movement from the inside. That didn’t mean there was no one hiding in there though. Jack and Gwen made their way to the back door as Ianto and Owen covered the front. To their surprise, the back door was unlocked. Jack pushed it open and quietly stepped inside. After clearing the kitchen and dining room Gwen took the lead as they entered the hallway. A tall man lay face down on the floor, arm outstretched as if reaching for the door handle. He wasn’t breathing. She checked for a pulse but he’d already begun to cool so he was definitely beyond saving. She opened the door to let Owen and Ianto in as Jack ascended the stairs. The place was empty but the lack of dust said it had been that way for less than a day. Three sleeping bags had been abandoned in a pile in the corner of the bedroom along with Donalds passport and bank card. He’d been left behind. Thrown away. He made his way downstairs.

“The whole place has been cleared. Probably this morning by the looks of it. What happened to him?”

Owen looked up from the body. “Can’t be sure until I’ve examined him properly but by the looks of it he was poisoned.”

“Take him back to the hub and get started.”

“Not joining us?”

“I want to see if they left anything behind.” 

Owen was placing the mans clothing in a bag, checking the pockets so he didn’t miss something important as a folded piece of paper fell from the back pocket of the mans jeans. He picked it up and carefully unfolded it. 

“Tosh!” He called. 

She rushed over. “Yes?”

He held out the paper.

“What’s this?”

“From Donalds pocket.”

She stared at the image and swiftly realised what it meant. The printed photo showed Melody stepping out of the tourist information office, her bag over her shoulder so it was most likely taken at the end of the day. The blurriness of the image said it was heavily zoomed in, taken from some distance with a mid range digital camera. 

“Trust Mel to have more than one stalker in her lifetime.” He said, dropping the rest of the fabric into the bag and sealing it. 

She frowned. “We were so preoccupied with Osiris we didn’t consider the buyers.”

“Yea, well they didn’t have a small army.”

“I’ll go and talk to her.”

“Lock up the office. I can give her a lift home later but for now we can keep her safe down here.”

She nodded and took the photo to her desk. She’d scan it in as soon as she got back. Melody was sat behind the counter, eyes slightly glazed as she sketched someone in her notebook. 

“Melody?” Tosh said softly, stepping into the warm office. 

Mel looked up, as if snapped from a daydream. “Oh, hi. Sorry, did I miss a message?”

“No. Would you mind locking up and coming downstairs for a little while?”

“Sure, what’s wrong? Your thoughts are very… um… chaotic?”

“I’ll explain when we’re downstairs.”

She walked over to the door and locked it. “Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No, no, of course not.”

“As long as you’re sure.” She grabbed her sketchbook and tucked it under her arm before following Tosh down to the main area of the hub. “Is there something I need to do?”

“No. I just need to ask you a few questions.”

She swallowed hard, thinking she was about to get in trouble for talking to John earlier. She sat down on the sofa and laced her fingers together. “Sure.”

“Have you noticed any cars that you see very often when you walk home? Anyone acting oddly?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“How far can your telepathy reach passively? Say someone had bad intentions but didn’t approach you. Would you know?”

“Um… If they were in the same room then yes, but any further and it might be too faint to pick up. Especially if it’s outside or there are a lot of other people around. Why? Oh god, Naomi hasn’t been released, has she?” She clutched the pendant around her neck. 

Tosh shook her head and sat down next to her, taking her hand comfortingly. “No, she’s still locked away as she should be.”

“So who would be after me?”

“Do you remember there were three people who intended to buy the sonic blasters last month? Well, we think they’re working for the snake eyed man and after the dalek was neutralised they may have turned their attention to you.”

“Apep.”

She blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry?”

“The snake eyed man. His name is Apep I think. The eyes have all taken the names of Egyptian gods and the snake god of chaos is called Apep. I’m pretty sure that he’s one of them as Ma’at said he was her sibling. They’re not in the mythology but I think she meant that they were the same race.”

“When did any of this happen?”

“When I stayed here. He visited in my dream in the form of a snake with golden eyes. She chased him off and told me she’d keep him out of my dreams.”

“You’re taking this really well.” 

“Oh no, I’m panicking inside. I think if I stood up I’d fall over, just… Trying to handle things better.” She squeezed Toshikos hand softly. “No point in having a full breakdown every time I might be in danger, right?... That is right, isn’t it? Sorry.”

She placed her other hand over Mels. “You’re allowed to be frightened, but looking at it calmly is a good idea. Owen says he’ll give you a lift home tonight so you’re not walking alone. It’ll be ok, we just thought you should be aware… What were you drawing before?”

“Oh, yea… Remember the lab that made the paralysing pollen?”

“Yes.”

“I was looking at the report and the pictures of one of the cleared out rooms and I got a flash of a face.” She reached over and grabbed the sketchbook, opening it to the last used page. 

“You think the pollen came from her?”

“I can’t be sure, but I think so. I drew Ma’at as well, here.” She turned the pages until she came to the picture of another woman. 

Tosh paused for a moment. “Can I scan these? They might be useful to my facial recognition programme.” 

“I can do that. It’ll give me something to do so I’m not here making myself overthink.”

“Of course. You’ll be ok, you know that, don’t you?”

“I know you’ll all try your best.” She smiled sincerely. 


	4. Venom

“Well, he wasn’t poisoned in the traditional sense. Nothing left in his blood stream, but his body reacted exactly like there was. Technically what dealt the final blow was his throat closing up.” Owen said as he finished cleaning the medical bay. 

Jack leaned on the handrail. “That’s what I was worried about.”

“Mm?”

“I was hoping this snakes ability wasn’t lethal.”

“How often is anything we deal with not lethal. Did Tosh tell you about the photo?”

“Yea. I wish I was shocked. It was only a matter of time, but at least it’s not UNIT or MI5.”

“You think they’d try and take her?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time a decent telepath has disappeared behind a mountain of paperwork and cheap suits.”

“Don’t have to hire a bodyguard for her, do we?”

Jack chuckled. “Let's hope not.”

“So, what’s our next move?”

“We’ve still got two definite names to follow and we were close to finding them earlier using the signal from Johns vortex manipulator. If we use the same method we should be able to track them down. At this point it’s a shoot first and ask questions later situation. We can’t risk them learning to time travel.”

“I’m with you on that one. Right, I’m going to give Mel a lift home. She’ll be safe there for tonight.” 

“Get back as soon as you can. This might be a late one.” 

Melody didn’t mind getting a lift home, especially as the days were getting colder and darker. She noticed that Owen kept glancing at her. “I’m ok. Really. I have extra locks on my door and I doubt they’ll want to climb the wall.”

“Yea, well I’m allowed to be concerned. You’ve got a bad habit of getting kidnapped.”

“I promise it’s not intentional.” She laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood. He looked like he was keeping his eyes on the road, but she could hear his mind rolling through possibilities, studying each car he saw with suspicion. 

“Sorry for being so much trouble.” She laced her fingers together to stop herself from fidgeting.

He rolled his eyes. “We work for Jack, you haven’t got the years to keep up with his level of trouble. Anyway, you drawing things to us means we don’t miss them. They don’t get to do what they like until someone innocent runs into them.”

“I suppose. I just wish I wasn’t so useless when they turn up.”

“Says the woman who killed a dalek. Listen, you’re doing fine. Working for Torchwood makes you a target. We’ve all been held hostage at least once and trust me, it doesn’t get easier to deal with mentally. You’ve been with us for around a year, right?”

“I think so.”

“If you were such a problem you wouldn’t still be with us, would you. You haven’t held any of us at gunpoint, haven’t punched Jack in the face, haven’t led anyone to the hub that shouldn’t be there. Stop saying sorry for existing.”

“I… I never even thought of it that way before.”

“And now you have.”

“Thanks.” She looked up to see someone sitting on the front step of the block of flats. “They’re new.”

He parked up and double checked his gun was hidden just under the back of his jacket. “Good thing I’m walking you in then, isn’t it.” He made sure to open the door for her and make it very clear that he had no intention of letting her walk past the new guy alone. The man could be perfectly innocent but it wasn’t worth the risk. As the two approached he stood and the porch light illuminated his face. Owen recognised him as the third member of the buyers group, Micah. His eyes were red and puffy, his face showing every bit of the exhaustion he was feeling. 

He slowly raised his hands in surrender. “Please… Help me.” 

Jack leaned back in his office chair as he listened to his phone ring. He was just checking to make sure John was staying where he should be. 

“Hello?” John answered.

He relaxed, hearing that for once his friend was actually doing as he was asked. “Having fun?”

“Yes actually. I introduced myself to the mini bar and while looking for the most expensive thing on the menu, I met some new friends that actually have a bit of sympathy.” His smile was audible and voices in the background said he was being completely honest. 

“I’m shocked. I thought you would have bailed out after only an hour.”

“I thought about it but I found something fun to do instead.”

“You mean someone.”

“Yes I do.” He said cheerily. “Now, if you haven’t found my equipment I have some strawberries to get to and someone delicious to feed them to me. Unless you and eye candy are outside my room in nothing but a tie, I’m going to hang up.” 

The line went dead and Jack decided that this was likely the best possible outcome.

“Is he staying put?” Asked Ianto from the archway.

He chuckled lightly. “And will be for a while.”

“Good. Owen just called. Apparently one of the buyers was waiting outside Mels flat, ready to surrender. He’s not sure if it’s a trap or not so he’s asked for you to meet him and make sure the man isn’t carrying any tracking devices.”

He stood and pulled on his coat. “Tell him I’m on my way.”

Micah sat on the chair across from Owen, shaking hands wrapped around a glass of whisky. He needed something a little stronger than beer. 

“Why did you come looking for us then?” Owen asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. 

He didn’t look up. “He killed Donny. Just because he wanted out. He made him crawl and just -” He bit his lip as tears threatened to re-emerge. “Zach said this was going to be an easy job, you know? Me and Donny come from a pretty unforgiving part of Texas and we wanted to use the money to escape. No one was meant to get hurt. Donny’s… Was… A scary looking guy but he’s not bad. He never wanted to fight. Just thought he was moving some boxes and standing around to scare people off.”

“And you got dragged into murder.”

He nodded. “I knew Donny wanted out but… I told him he should have waited for me.”

“You two were more than just mates.”

“Yea… I only did this for us. Even if I manage to get home I’ve got nothing to go back to.” The tears began to fall and he tried to swallow them down with his whisky. “I knew the girl we’d been following was linked to Torchwood so I figured you’d be there eventually.”

“Why’d the snake let you out?” 

“He thinks I’m on a stake out… Did you guys find him? I know there were people looking around this morning.”

Owen sighed. “Yea. We found him.”

“Do… Do you think it hurt? Zach said it was really quick but… I can’t trust him.”

“From what I saw, he was probably unconscious before he felt any pain.” It was a lie but sometimes a lie was better than the truth. The man was already grieving and he didn’t want to add more suffering to that. He’d seen enough people get mixed up with aliens and monsters to know when someone was just following along because they had literally no other option. “How about I ask if you can say goodbye. Better than your last memory of him being on the floor like that.”

Micah looked up with wide eyes. “You’d let me? After all this?”

“Listen, I don’t think you’re a monster. You just got wrapped up in this alien shit because you did something bloody stupid.”

“Thanks.” He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. “Apep and Zach told us all of these horror stories about you guys so I thought you might just shoot me on sight.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear.”

“I think Apep’s planning something big. He’s got these two canisters with biohazard stickers on the side. I asked what they were and he just laughed.”

“Yea? Where’s he keeping them?”

“A warehouse. I can point to it on a map but I can’t remember the address. And here- “He reached into his coat pocket and produced Johns rift manipulator. “I took this when they weren’t looking. It looked important.”

Owen took it and examined it. It certainly looked real and it didn’t look to be tampered with so he slid it into his own pocket, out of reach. “You don’t know how important.” 

“I spent the whole time on that step terrified that Apep would turn up. Snake faced bastard that he is… Then you pulled up with that girl. She looked so normal.”

“That’s because she is. Her name’s Melody.”

“She wasn’t what killed the … The thing…”

“The dalek.”

“Yea. We were looking for the wrong thing the whole time, weren’t we. Just stalking some poor woman.”

“She keeps the place clean, does paperwork, orders food.”

“Oh god… Can you tell her I’m sorry?”

“I will. Might want to tell her boss and manager you’re sorry too. They’re a bit protective of her.”

“How protective?”

“You make her cry and they’ll beat your head in kind of protective. In fact, I think that goes for all of us if I’m honest.”

He shrunk down in his chair. “My body’s going to be found in a ditch, isn’t it?”

“Naa. If you’d hurt her I would have decked you, but you didn’t so you might be ok.” 

He finished the rest of his drink and sighed, placing the glass on the table. He felt a hand land firmly on his shoulder which made him jump out of his skin. 

“Hello Mr Hyles.” Jack said. “I think it’s time you came with us.”

Tosh had searched through all the data she could get from the vortex manipulator and, apart from a few  _ interesting _ messages, it showed no signs of tampering or use since it had been taken. From the medical bay she could hear soft sobs. Gwen had accompanied Micah down to say goodbye to Donny and it sounded like it was going as well as was to be expected. She felt a little sorry for them but nothing could be done at this point to help them. She just had to concentrate on stopping Apep hurting anyone else. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew what was in the canisters he mentioned but didn’t want to jump to conclusions right away. The storage space Micah had pointed out used to be Osiris owned and had been ‘empty’ for over a year. That didn’t stop an unusual amount of power and water being used in the building though. The bills were being paid with an account under the name Brian J Campbell, a man who had been missing since nineteen seventy three and had quite the nest egg. It was no wonder he could get around undetected so easily when he had that kind of money to throw at it. She glanced up as Ianto walked past, his phone held to his ear. 

“-Now? Ok, ok. I’m on my way.” He hung up the call.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm? Oh, my sister says I need to go and see her right now. No idea what’s wrong but apparently it’s urgent. I should be back in a hour.”

“I hope everything’s ok.”

“You and me both. See you in a bit.” 

She gave a small wave as he dashed out.

Rhiannon had always worried about her brother. He’d been a sensitive kid and would do anything for the right person so sometimes she was sure he’d just got dragged into situations he had no business being in. The kids had been told to stay in the bedroom so the grown ups could talk. Luckily they were too engrossed in their computer games to care exactly where they were. She stood as Ianto stepped into his own flat, the door closed and held by Johnny behind him. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, utterly confused. 

She beckoned him over and pointed to the sofa in front of her. “Sit down.”

“Okay?” He sat tentatively, looking around for any clue as to what was happening. 

“You’d tell me if you were in trouble, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, why?”

She handed him a picture. It was an image that must have been taken just before the raid on the Osiris base. It looked bad to anyone not in the know as they’d all been armed to the teeth. He needed to cover this and fast. He laughed and held out the image. “It’s good photoshop but I don’t know why you’d call me away just to see it.”

“Ianto. Don’t take me for a bloody fool.” She took another handful of images and spread them out across the coffee table. “What’s going on? I’ve been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt but… Things just don’t add up. I know you like to keep your work life quiet but, what is it you really do? How does a civil servant afford this place? So what is it? Drugs? A gang?”

“Of course not!” He had to think fast. As much as he hated it he’d need to retcon them anyway so he just had to regain their trust. “It’s a government job so I can’t talk about it.”

“Pull the other one.”

“I’m serious. Here-” he took one of the photos and pushed it towards her, “- does any of that look like something a gang could get hold of. It’s military hardware.” 

She still looked sceptical but examining the image did make it hard to believe that it was some underground crime ring. “How?”

“What?”

“How did you get into this?”

“I… I got recruited in London.”

“London?!”

“After what happened to dad-” the bastard “- I was approached by a government agent. It was just office work.”

“So, you got pulled into MI5s admin?”

“Yes. That’s where I met Lisa… And where I lost her. I was transferred here after that.”

“Right, so say I believe you, how does someone in admin end up carting around guns?” She crossed her arms and glared like she was telling him off.

“I started in admin. Worked my way up to a personal assistant role. That means occasionally I help with field work.” 

Johnny rolled his eyes. “You? Field work? No chance.”

“Yes me. Do you really see me getting involved in some crime ring?”

“True. Can’t see you kneecapping someone.” He stepped away from the door, relaxing a little. 

Rhiannon glared over at her husband. “You can’t be buying this.”

“Makes sense, doesn’t it? The fancy suits, the money, being all shifty. I bet his little fling is all a cover.”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “My relationship isn’t a fling. I’ve been with Jack for years now.”

“It’s a very long fling. I bet it’s a cover. He’s some assassins handler or something.”

“Stop taking the piss, this is serious!” She snapped. This was going to be a long evening if Ianto couldn’t convince them. 


	5. Rattlesnake

Melody sipped her tea as she curled her legs up onto the sofa. Her laptop was open on the coffee table showing a video feed from Heathers living room. They’d started making a habit of having a video call each night just to spend time together. 

“Come on, I know all of your other friends.” Heather said.

“I know but I work with my friends here. I don’t want things to get too mixed up.”

“I’m sure they won’t. You’re not ashamed of me are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then think about it? Maybe ask them?”

“Ok, ok. I’ll ask, but I’m not promising anything.”

“Thank you.” She beamed. 

That smile made Melody feel warm and fuzzy inside. Her phone buzzed from her coat pocket by the door. “Be right back.” She grabbed her phone and opened the message.

_ Help. My sister somehow got photos of me in the field. I’ve tried to spin it like a MI5 job but she’s not buying it or letting me go. Can you get a taxi over here? You know I wouldn’t ask unless I was desperate. From Ianto.  _

She replied with a quick  _ on my way _ before heading over to the laptop. “Sorry, I’ve got to go.”

“No problem. Talk soon.”

She blew a kiss before hanging up the call and running off to get changed into something more appropriate. 

Rhiannon wasn’t budging in the slightest. It had become more of an uncomfortable stare down at this point and Ianto was ready to jump out of the window and pray he didn’t die. A knock at the door let Johnny escape the tense atmosphere. He didn’t care who it was. If it was a nocturnal jehovahs witness he would gladly natter to them for the next three hours. He opened the door to see a rather short blonde woman dressed as if she was about to attend a business meeting. “Um, hello?”

“Hello. I’m looking for Mr Jones?” She smiled politely. 

He looked back to see if Rhiannon was going to do anything about it. She stood and marched to the door. 

“Oh, you must be Rhiannon. It’s nice to meet you.” Mel held out her hand to shake. 

She took it tentatively. “And you are?”

“I’m Melody, Mr Jones’ assistant.”

“For goodness sake. How’s he conned you into playing along with this nonsense? How old are you?”

“There’s no con Mrs Davies and I’m twenty two years old. May I come in?”

Rhiannon sighed and walked back to the sofa as Johnny let Mel in and closed the door behind her. 

“Thank you. You must be Johnny then. It’s nice to meet you too.” She’d known his name the moment they’d met but she wanted to be polite. 

He gave a sympathetic smile. “You too. Things are a bit strange here right now.”

“I’m sure I can help clear everything up.” She walked in and sat down next to Ianto, placing her bag on the coffee table and pulling out a small, black, leather bound notebook and silver metal pen. “Sorry it took me so long to get here sir.” 

Ianto gave her a thankful nod. “No problem.” 

“How can I help?” 

“Oh please knock it off. There is no way my little brother is a secret agent and nothing you can say will change my mind.” Rhiannon shook her head. “I want to know what’s really going on, right this minute. I’m worried about you Ianto.” Her expression softened, a mix of sadness and worry in her eyes. 

He looked away. “I’ve already told you everything.” 

“If I may-” Melody collected all of the photos and flicked through them. “- if he was lying, why would someone go out of their way to covertly take these, find out who you are and deliver them to you?” She slipped them into an evidence bag, produced from her shoulder bag, then tucked them safely away. “It seems a little elaborate for a prank, and extremely risky for gang activity. What’s more, you’re welcome to talk to the police about this situation as we work quite closely with them. Oh, did you say who delivered these photos to you?”

Rhiannon was a little blindsided by this sudden flood of information from this woman who she was sure couldn’t see beyond her fringe. “Tall bloke. Six foot five or six, wore sunglasses, dark hair, beard.”

“Ah I see. That makes sense.”

“You know him?”

“I cannot discuss the details of an active investigation with a civilian, I’m sorry. But rest assured we are working our hardest to find and apprehend this individual. In the meantime it may be wise, if you agree of course, to stay at a hotel as it will be safer than a known address.”

Johnny sat next to his wife. “Wait, are we in danger?”

“Not immediate, but I’m sure we can all agree that limiting any risk is for the best. So, it would be you both and your two children, correct?”

“Yea. You think we’ll be safe there?”

“As safe as a person can be, yes. This is just a precaution of course.” She grabbed her PDA and began tapping. “I’ll book you in for a week, meals and entertainment included. Ah, and it looks like we can get you there tonight. I’ll have the night manager waiting for you when you arrive. If you need anything else you, of course, have Mr Jones’ contact details. Would you like to inform the children of the move? It would be best to keep any details from them.”

He stood and rushed off to the bedroom to talk to the children. Meanwhile Rhiannon was trying to process it all. “So, it’s true then?”

“Completely. I do ask that what you’ve learned doesn’t leave this room.”

“Y-yea, right, of course.”

Melody used her soft, calming, almost motherly voice. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine. I know this is a shock but I’m sure given a few days this will all feel like a very strange dream.” 

As soon as they were in the car and off out of sight Ianto leaned back against the outside wall and let out the breath he didn’t realise he’d even been holding. “Bloody hell.” 

“Are you ok?” Mel asked. “I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“No, no, that was amazing.”

“Well, I did learn from the best.”

He laughed and ran his hands through his hair. “So how much is the hotel costing me?”

“I managed to get the price low enough to right off as a work expense. Jess sent me a discount from her boss after everything that happened with the dalek. Plus, it was a last minute booking for a room that was cancelled online so it worked out… She really was just worried about you. They both were.”

“I know. I just wish they hadn’t held me hostage and made it so I have to retcon them.”

“For the next few days you get all the cool uncle points at least.” 

He gave a weak and tired smile. “I suppose. I’d better call in. I said I’d only be an hour.” He headed back up to his flat to grab his phone, Mel following to get her bag. The phone rang and rang but he got no reply. It was strange as he moved through his contacts that noone picked up. Jack had answered his calls while actively fighting a weevil before so this was worrying. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

He slipped his phone into his pocket. “No one’s answering my calls. Do you want me to drop you off at home before I go back?”

“If something’s wrong I want to help.”

“Mel-”

“Please don’t leave me behind again.” 

He sighed deeply. “Come on then.”

Jack had wanted to just collect the canisters and scope out the warehouse, he hadn’t expected the maze of shipping crates, containers and makeshift walls that were inside, or just how many guards were patrolling. Some of them were still wearing Osiris insignias so it was easy to tell where they’d all come from. He’d considered calling it off but those two canisters alone could completely cover the city in the paralysing agent. It wasn’t worth the risk, or that’s what he’d thought. They’d got in with no issues but as they made their way to the centre of the maze it felt more and more like they were being herded like lambs to the slaughter. In the centre Apep sat, or rather lounged over, a sofa. A large heater keeping the place at a steady forty degrees centigrade. He gave a large grin and patted one of the canisters that was being kept in an ice box. 

“What took you? I would have thought you would have come running after that little rat turned up.” 

Jack narrowed his eyes. “It was a set up.”

“Yes and no. He didn’t know I was using him as bait. Though I didn’t expect him to take that little watch device. Clever even for a rat. But being as I doubt you just handed it back to the time agent I’m sure I’ll still get to see the chaos he causes trying to get it back.” He laughed. “You know what’s funny, you were so worried about what I was going to do with this-” he tapped the canister “- you didn’t even consider that you were my target in the first place.” 

It all fell into place as he felt his fingers going numb, his vision starting to swim. “How?”

“I’m immune.” Apep shrugged. “Put them in one of the containers until I’ve decided what to do with them.” 

A group of guards wearing gas masks grabbed the team before they fell.

The hub was quiet, too quiet. Everyone had to be out. Ianto checked Toshikos workstation as she was usually on logistics if there was a mission of any kind. The map to the warehouse was the last thing accessed and that was over an hour ago. It wasn’t far, maybe a half hour drive if Jack was at the wheel. Comms weren’t connecting so something had to be dampening that there. It was bad. None of it smelled right. He sprinted off to grab a respirator, enough weaponry to take down who or whatever was in that warehouse and a field medicine kit. 

“Ianto? Where are you going?” Melody asked, trying to keep out of his way. 

He paused only for a moment. “I think they’re in trouble. I hope I’m wrong but-”

“Let me go with you. I can help.”

“Mel, please, you need to stay here where it’s safe.”

“I’m not a child!”

“I know you’re not. But we know Apep wants you and there’s no way in hell I’ll be the one to deliver you to him. We’ll be back.”

“I…” She deflated and turned away. “Ok… I’ll wait.”

He felt sorry for her but he had no time to talk it over. She’d understand. She had to. 

An hour ticked away and Melody had to get some air. She’d been monitoring communications but they’d gone silent fifteen minutes ago. The cold night air swirled around her as she stepped out into the night. The waves continuing their eternal cycle, pushed and pulled by the moons gravity. 

“It’s probably not safe to be standing out here on your own in the dark.” A familiar voice said. 

She jumped as John leaned on the railing next to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I got bored. My new friends have no stamina.” He smirked as best he could. “Found my vortex manipulator yet?”

“I… Oh sod it, yes I saw it.”

“Oooh, are you rebelling again? You should be careful or you’ll be in for a spanking.” 

She didn’t react. 

“So are you going to give it back or should I just let myself in?”

“Does it matter what I say?”

“Look, I know you’ve probably heard a lot of stories, mostly true, about me. But I’m not a monster. A selfish prick, but not a monster.”

“Ianto thinks the others are in trouble so he ran off to help, but I lost contact with him a quarter of an hour ago.”

“So you’re standing here dramatically?”

“What am I meant to do?”

“Go after them.”

“How? Should I roll up in a taxi? I can’t drive.”

“Tell you what, you give me my wrist comp back and I’ll help you out.”

She looked up at him and considered it. They couldn’t be angry at her if they were dead. She approached the door wordlessly and held it open behind her. 

“Is that a yes?” He smiled and followed. 

Down in the hub she held out his wrist comp. “Here.”

“Right, give me half a minute to pick up a few accessories.” He wrapped it around his wrist, feeling much better with it there. A portal opened up and he stepped through. 

For a moment she thought he’d just left, after all that had always been a possibility, but a second portal proved her wrong. When John emerged he was fully healed and fully armed. “Ready to cause a little chaos of your own?”

“Um… One sec…” She jogged away, returning two minutes later with two gas masks, handing one to him along with an earpiece. “So I can keep in contact with you.” 

He chuckled and put them on. “Aren’t you bringing any weaponry?” 

“It’s hidden in my jacket. Let’s go.”

He took her hand and pulled her into the bright light of a portal. 

Owen had managed to turn his head, the cold floor feeling as if it was burning the side of his face. He couldn’t feel his extremities anymore and guessed the others were dealing with the same thing. At least the darkness of the shipping container stopped the light sensitivity being an issue. 

“What’s… What’s the worst case scenario here?” Asked Jack, breathing his words. 

“Well, one… It runs out in twelve hours and we… try and escape… Two, Ianto rescues us… and we wait it out… until I can move to… get the antidote… Three, that bastard doses us up… again and we slowly die. In short… It’s Ianto or death.”

“Where was Ianto?”

Toshikos small voice drifted over the air. “Family… Emergency I think.”

“Ok… Option four…. If I can hit my head on the floor hard enou-”

“Don’t even think about it!” Owen hissed. “That kind of noise will be like being stabbed in the head… Not even your willpower … Could push through it.”

“Hey, shut up a second. Can you hear that?” Gwen asked, the group falling silent to listen. Far off they could hear a popping sound. The sound of distant gunfire. Jack smiled to himself. 


	6. Cobra

Ianto fell to his knees, his stomach burning like he’d swallowed battery acid. Infiltrating the place hadn’t been too difficult. A few guards were likely still twitching from the taser strikes but that was nothing in the grand scheme of things. He’d methodically begun checking everywhere for any sign of his friends but it was slow going, each container having to be quietly opened and any crates checked behind whilst avoiding detection. It had been going so well until he reached a living room style setup. A sofa, tv and table were set out surrounded by temporary walls. Someone began low clapping behind him and when he turned around he saw a snake eyed man whos face he’d seen drawn before. 

“Not bad. The gas mask was an excellent addition.” Apep grinned. “But you’ve got a lot more containers to search before you find your friends.”

Ianto levelled his pistol at the man. “Show me where you’re keeping them.” 

“Oh, you’ll be joining them, don’t you worry about that. But as a reward for getting this far on your own I’m going to make you a deal. Bring me the girl and I won’t sell your friends off. Don’t and I’m going to slowly torture you to death and then sell them off.”

He decided answering was just playing this monsters game so he fired, leaving a bullet wound where Apeps heart should have been. That’s when Iantos stomach began to burn. His head pounded, vision distorting, pulling him down to the floor. 

“That was a very bad move.” Apep hissed, tongue flicking from between his fangs. “I suppose you chose option two.” 

John stepped through the portal, firing three shots into each guard walking past, none lethal but all painful and incapacitating. Melody followed behind, holding his hand tightly. 

“Still with me, fun size?” He asked, a charming smile on his face. 

She nodded in return then looked to the building. “There are a lot of people in there.” 

“All the more fun for me.”

“I don’t think you’ll need to. I mean if you see Apep go ahead.” 

“You couldn’t stop me if I saw that fang faced fu-”

“We should get inside.” 

He sighed. “You have no sense of timing.”

She chuckled musically and he couldn’t help but find it endearing. Maybe it was the leftover endorphins from his earlier adventures but she was kind of intriguing. He opened the door and glanced around, making sure the coast was clear before beckoning her in. When she stepped inside he could feel a pressure in his mind, telepathic tendrils sinking in. 

“Hey, remember I’m on your side here.”

“Sorry.” She blushed. 

The tendrils retreated but he wondered if all the other people she was connecting up to were feeling that. 

Her voice rose into the air, cold and echoing, insistent, unrelenting. “Drop your weapons and surrender. Leave this place or suffer a fate worse than death.” 

After a moment there was a clattering from all around before the stampede began. 

“Sorted then.” He smirked. 

“Not exactly. It was a suggestion. It’s possible that some people have fought it off.”

“That’s what I’m here for. You know where we’re going.”

“Follow me.” She walked ahead, keeping close to the wall so those trying to escape wouldn’t run into her. He grabbed her shoulder to stop her as he saw those snake eyes staring intently down at a figure on the floor. That evil git wasn’t escaping this time. He fired two shots into Apeps chest, knocking him backwards. 

Ianto gasped, the awful pain in his lungs easing to nothing. 

Melody knelt at his side, supporting his weight. “Where are the others?”

“I don’t…” He fell into a coughing fit. “Didn’t find them… What are you doing here?”

“Saving you all. John, he’s playing dead.” 

The time agent already knew. He’d injured the real Apep hidden inside its human shell but not killed it. “You and eye candy get out of here. The more people he has to target the better for him.” 

“What is it with everyone trying to get rid of me?”

“Because he could use you.” 

Apep chuckled. “A personification of madness. Oh yes, I could. And trust me darling, I would never make you leave.” He sat up and licked his lips. 

She grabbed Iantos gun from the floor, aimed at the silver snake head decorating Apeps chest and fired until the flesh around it was nothing but a mess of viscera. He looked shocked, as if he’d never expected her to attack with anything other than her telepathy. The silver snake shakily began to slither out of the body and stared into her silver eyes, hatred pouring from them. It lunged but was sliced clean in half by John, its head and half of its body clattered across the floor.

“Huh, not so tough without his mind games.” He shrugged, sliding the sword back into its sheath at his hip. “Now, we need to start searching.” 

Melody helped Ianto to his feet. “Give me a second.” She closed her eyes and pointed to her left. “That way. There are three guards and Zach left in the building. If you can handle Zach and one of the guards I can deal with the other two.”

“When you say deal with…?”

“Try not to kill them, other than that, do whatever you want.” 

John shrugged. “Sounds good. Are you sure you’ll be safe?”

“I’m not even tired yet, and I have Ianto with me.”

He nodded and ran off, clambering up over one of the temporary walls. 

“Melody, thank you for saving me but-” Ianto began, his head clear again. 

“You can tell me off later. We need to find the others. Their thoughts are too quiet. Do you have the poisons kit in that bag?” 

“Yes.”

“Then we should be able to help them.” 

He followed her, trying not to worry too much about the fact that she’d been hanging around with John of all people, and had just unloaded about twelve bullets into a body. The maze of containers felt endless as they moved through them. Two men raised their rifles at the end of the hallway they needed to walk down. Ianto raised his pistol. 

“We are not the people you are looking for. Turn around and leave.” She said calmly, her voice reverberating across the metal walls. The two looked at each other and then left as they’d been told to. 

He tried to stifle a laugh. “Did you just jedi mind trick them?”

“A little bit.” She rushed over to one of the containers and carefully turned the lock. As light filled the container four figures lay on the cold floor. Without another word Ianto got to work. He might not be a medic but the poisons kit was made to be used with very little training. It only took a minute to create an antidote but it felt like the longest minute possible. Owen was the first to show any sign of consciousness. He groaned like he had awoken with the worst possible hangover, and he certainly felt like he had. The tingling in his hands and feet was new though. He squinted and tried to shield his eyes from the light that was sending jolts of pain through his head. As the blurring in his vision faded he remembered where he was and what had happened. He turned to see if the others were ok and saw that Tosh had her head rested on Melodys folded jacket and Gwen was rested on the womans cardigan. Their owner was watching over them all carefully, not wanting to miss anything. Ianto had folded his coat under Jacks head and, for the first time, Owen realised he’d been resting on an emptied part of a backpack.

“Nice one Ianto.” He winced as he spoke. 

Ianto nodded in recognition of the closest thing to a compliment Owen ever gave. Tosh was the next to stir, lifting a shaky arm to cover her eyes. Owen shuffled over to her. 

“Morning sunshine.” He said softly.

She huffed and mumbled. “Why does it have to be morning?”

“It’s actually ten thirteen but you’re awake so-”

“I don’t want to be awake.” She let her arm slide down and slowly sat up. “Where am… Oh, wait… We were captured.” She winced towards the open door. “It’s so quiet out there.”

Melody spoke up from her corner, her voice as soft as ever. “That’s because we pretty much cleared out the place before we found you.”

“What about Apep?”

“Dead. Unless he can survive his snake form being sliced in half… His human vessel isn’t usable anymore.” 

Gwen pulled herself up wordlessly, simply not wanting to be on the cold floor any longer. “What about the other canister?” She asked once she could put her thoughts in order.

“It was by the sofa he was sitting on. I doubt anyone would want to go near it with the mess that’s just above it.” Ianto said, cringing a little to himself at the memory of what had been left behind. He looked down to see Jack smiling up at him at him softly. “How long have you been awake?”

Jack opened a bright blue eye. “I heard Owen mention the time. Just letting my head stop hurting. Nice work out there.”

“I wouldn’t call it completely over yet.”

“Why?”

“I’d just rather not tempt fate.”

A shout and a crash from somewhere in the building said fate had already been very much tempted. 

Zach had essentially thrown the guard under the proverbial bus and made a run for it When John had appeared. It wasn’t much of a fight. The guard had basic training and that was it, so compared to Johns years of training and experience he might have well been a civilian. John had landed the man on the floor by grabbing his rifle and slamming the butt of it into his face. The ex time agent thought it was almost entertaining the way this wannabe gangster ran, in the same way watching a cat stumble around after being sedated is entertaining. He climbed up to the top of the container wall and followed him. 

“You know I haven’t shot at you yet.” He smirked. “What are you so afraid of?”

Zach skidded to a halt, falling on his backside as he tried to scramble away from his bosses dead body. “Oh shit, oh shit,” he blathered. 

“Yea, that fight didn’t end well for him.” John said, sitting on the edge of the container. “But it means you don’t have to follow his orders anymore. Silver lining.” 

“B-but how? Where are all the guards? How di-” He gasped, eyes wide, mouth moving like a fish on land. 

“Uh… Are you ok?”

His body began to spasm and he clawed at his back frantically before falling still.

“You can play dead if you want but I haven’t actually tried to kill you… Yet… I don’t like being ignored.” He rolled his eyes and jumped down, walking over and giving Zach a firm kick in the side. The fallen mans eyes shot wide, pupils pulled into thin slits. Before John could even react he found himself flying through the air, over the container made wall and onto a stack of crates. Pieces of wood flew into the air as he landed in the shattered remnants. He rolled onto his side, the pain in his back making it hard to breathe, let alone anything else. It only took a few seconds for him to push through it and pull himself to his knees.

“Where is she?!” Zach, or now Apep, hissed, standing atop the container wall.

He coughed, his ribs aching. “You’re going to have to elaborate. How did you survive anyway?”

“You cut off my tail, but no matter. I can live without it. Tell me where the girl is and I will gift you a swift death.”

“What do you want with her? Have a thing for girls that don’t need to kneel to s-”

“If you won’t tell me then you’re of no use to me!”

“Can no one let me finish a sentence around here?!” He drew his dual pistols and fired at the snake eyed man, catching his arm as he sprinted away at an alarming speed. “Coward!” He gave chase, pulling himself up onto the top of the containers. “You want chaos? Come and get it!” The air filled with more gunfire as Apep dodged and leapt across the maze. John had to admit, this was the most fun he’d had in a while and he started to suspect he actually had something to lose. In the past few years his life had lost something. He thought he’d clawed a little of it back when he rescued Gray, but that bit him in the ass and that spark dulled to nothing yet again. He’d been searching for that spark again ever since. Fighting for the sake of it meant nothing. Fighting for something was what he needed. He could fight to protect this telepath and prove to Jack that he was changing. Maybe then his ex would take him back. The only man, no, the only being, who had ever come close to understanding him. Jack was immortal so he had forever to be worthy and it didn’t mean he had to be  _ good _ , it meant he had to make the right decisions. That decision at this point was clear. Kill Apep, save the girl and ride off into the sunset. The last bit might not happen but the first two he could do. He leapt up and grabbed a chain hanging from the rafters, using it to swing around and kick Apep in the back and off the containers. The creature tumbled across the concrete floor, its neck twisting awkwardly before it pulled itself back into the right shape with a horrible grinding sound. 

“You think you can kill a god?!” Apep roared. 

He laughed bitterly. “A god? You think you're a god. You’re a hard to kill parasite at best.”

“I am chaos incarnate! I will burn this world to ashes and build my empire on its smoking corpse!”

“You’ll  **try** and burn this world. But you’re fighting a losing battle.”

“You think you’re some kind of hero?!”

“With these cheekbones, I look like one don’t I. It’s ok, you can admit it.” 

“I eat heroes for breakfast!”

“I prefer dinner first if you’re offering.”

Apep bellowed out his rage as he lunged towards John, fangs bared, venom dripping from his lips. The ex time agent rolled backwards and fired four shots into the creatures chest, kicking it backwards and over the other side of the shipping container. It grabbed one of the guards dropped weapons and fired upwards, not at John, but at the lights. The old tube lights exploded in a shower of glass, bathing the area in darkness. 


	7. Slither

Ianto stepped carefully out of the container, hearing the glass hit the floor as the gunfire dissipated. Having to move by torchlight in this situation was never a good idea. 

“Melody can you tell what’s going on?” He asked. 

She concentrated. “John’s the only active mind I can sense other than us. One sec.” She tapped her earpiece, testing to see if it worked at all. “John, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” Came the reply. “Looks like the snake wasn’t as dead as we thought. It’s taken over the blonde guys body and it’s got a serious hard on for you.”

“Great.” She sighed. “It shot out the lights, didn’t it.”

“It’s a sore loser. I’m tracking it but it’s a sneaky little bastard.”

“Can you get back to us?”

“Finally changed your mind about being curious?”

“No… Not ever.” 

“I think she means if you can get us out of here we can burn the place down with the snake inside.” Jack interjected. “Especially if he still has that paralysing agent. I don’t feel like taking a nap on the concrete twice in one day.”

John couldn’t help but agree about the idea of contact with the concrete floor. “You could light up the area but it’ll give your position away to the snake too, and if I’m honest he’s faster than me. I don’t know how long that body’ll be able to keep up that pace. He must be burning it out going this hard.”

“Good point. Think we can get him to take himself down?”

“You know I’m always happy for you to join me. But first, get into cover.”

“Why?” He asked, making sure everyone was under cover anyway.

Three blasts rang out as the glass in the roof was obliterated letting in light from the full moon. “It’s easier to fight what you can see. It’s not much but we’ve worked with less.” 

“Right, keep Melody safe. We can’t let Apep get hold of her.” He ordered before sprinting out and clambering up to the container roof. The bright moonlight illuminated the path across the maze of containers but left the passages in between in almost complete darkness. He made his way towards John. “Where was he the last time you saw him?”

“I kicked him down there. He could be anywhere by now.” 

“Ianto, do you remember the path to the exit?” 

Iantos voice replied over Jacks earpiece. “Not in the dark. There has to be another door out that won’t risk us running into Apep.”

“Go for it. He knows where you are so he’ll probably be heading right there.”

“Right. Be careful up there.”

Apep kept low, almost slithering across the cold floor. He could open the other canister but it could kill the girl and she was what he wanted. He wanted to remake her. With her power he could destroy cities in days, make anyone do what he wanted them to. He couldn’t use his own abilities in his injured state so she was his only option. He knew that having humans do his dirty work always ended badly. After all, it’s why he’d left Osiris in the first place. Now he’d have to start all over again, but this time he’d have the girl. Yes. He’d have those silver eyes for his own. He tasted the air, his head filling with the metallic scent of his own blood as it leaked out of the large holes in his chest. He’d need a new vessel. One of these Torchwood agents would do for now. 

As he turned the corner towards the makeshift prison cell he was blinded by the beam of a bright flashlight He hissed and cowered back into the shadows. 

Owen had volunteered to cover the others as they made their way through the maze and it looked like Apep was feeling as light sensitive as he was. Years of working through hangovers made him pretty much unfazed by the headache so he had the advantage. Tosh cracked a glowstick and tossed it towards the corner, even if it didn’t scare him off it would give Jack a chance to spot him from above. 

“How many of those do we have?” Owen asked, slowly backing up, his eyes fixed on the corner where Apep was hiding. 

She held up the handful of them. “Six. I’m not sure it’s enough to illuminate the whole way out but it’s better than nothing.” 

“Whatever slows him down. Let’s get moving.”

Ianto took the lead with Gwen and Melody close behind. All of the container walls looked the same, especially in the dark but following the old trick of following the wall to the right they’d have to get out eventually. The plan was working for two long hallways until the sound of gunfire broke the silence, Apep risking the climb up and over the wall. Ianto and Gwen levelled their weapons towards the hissing, bleeding, creature as it charged towards them. The hail of bullets didn’t even seem to slow him down as he charged. He slammed both into the walls and grabbed Melody, dragging her over the far wall and into the darkness. Owen and Tosh sprinted around to try and catch up.

Mel kicked and scratched as hard as she could but this creatures superhuman grip was unrelenting. It pinned her against the floor, blood dripping down from its ruined form, knocking the wind from her and sending pain radiating through her back. 

“You… Kill them!” He demanded. 

She tried to turn her face away from the gory mess. “No!”

“Don’t you understand? You could rule this place.” His voice had softened from demanding to something like bargaining.

“Let me go!”

“You could plunge this place into pure madness. Utter chaos. You’re everything I’ve been looking for. I wouldn’t need my siblings, just you.” He turned her face so she had no choice but to look at him. “Those eyes.” His voice was a mix of a gurgle and a purr as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

She could barely keep her stomach from lurching, the stench of blood mixed with a bitter and sickening smell that got stronger with each word he spoke. The stink of venom and death. She clenched her jaw closed in an attempt to keep the liquid dripping down onto her face out of her mouth. 

“I could give you an empire. We could watch this world fall to its knees together. You and I. We could enslave my kin. All you need do is say the word.”

His words reminded her of Naomi. How she’d spoken the last time they’d met, after looking into her eyes. Was that it? Was she causing this? Sending people into an obsessive madness just by a simple look? No. No, it couldn’t be. She couldn’t let herself consider that. She needed to breathe, but the smell made her feel like she would die if she did. Tears ran down the sides of her face. 

“Answer me!... I knew I was drawn here by something, but I never guessed it would be you.” He hissed into her ear as the sound of boots on concrete got closer. “They want to take you away from me and this vessel is failing...If I can’t keep you for myself, then no one will.” 

She cried out as he bit into her shoulder, his fangs piercing deep into her flesh and flooding her system with venom, spots of light bursting in her vision before she passed out. 

Owen and Tosh grabbed Apep by the shoulders and dragged him backwards, away from Melodys prone form. In the torchlight they could see the silver snake head protruding from Apeps chest and fired into it at point blank range, finally destroying it. John jumped down from above and gathered Melody up into his arms. 

“Where do we take her? I’d need coordinates for the nearest hospital. Should I take her back to your base?” He asked, looking to Owen and then up at Jack who was still stood atop the container. 

Jack looked scared, not in his face, but his eyes. “Get her and Owen back to the hub. We can deal with things here.”

John opened a portal and gestured for Owen to go through. His bravado was gone and it had been replaced by something that could be considered fear as he held Melodys limp body. He stepped through the golden light and with that it was gone. Gwen and Ianto finally caught up, the ex police officer holding her arm like she wasn’t sure if it was broken or not. 

At the hub Owen had got Melody stabilised and her shoulder clean and dressed, the antivenom having worked quickly, he took a moment to clean the gore from her face. John had been watching intently the whole time.

“She’ll be ok.” Owen said, not looking up.

John nodded. “Good. He was obsessed with her… Why did he try to kill her?” 

“He knew he wasn’t going to win so he decided that if he couldn’t have her then he’d kill her.” 

He frowned, studying the figure that seemed even smaller than when she was moving around. “This is why you lot left her behind.”

“We didn’t leave her behind. She was meant to be at home by now.”

“Eye candy left her behind.”

“Eh?”

“She was alone when I got here. Just staring out to sea.”

“He did the right thing. She shouldn’t have been anywhere near-”

“If she wasn’t there you’d all be dead. I wouldn’t have known where you were and I wouldn’t have been able to get in to get my wrist comp back either. You know when I was locked up down in your cells she came to talk to me.”

“She did?” He wasn’t sure if John was being honest or not.

“She knew I’d go after the snake so she asked me to not hurt any of you in the process. She knew she could get in trouble for talking to me, but she did it anyway.”

“Sounds about right. Not bad for someone who cries if someone shouts at her… Or near her… So what now? Are you leaving or…?”

“Trying to get rid of me?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled. “It’s almost like you don’t like me.”

“You shot me and almost got me irradiated.” Owen replied flatly.

“Ok, it was Gray that almost got you irradiated. And I didn’t outright kill you. Look, I get it, we got off on the wrong foot.”

“I don’t know what your game is here but I’m not interested. I appreciate your help but that doesn’t just wipe away what you’ve already done.” 

“No games. I’m giving the whole not killing people thing a try. It’s harder than it looks.”

Owen sighed and tapped his earpiece with his wrist. “Yea?”

“Hi. How’s Mel doing?” Asked Gwen.

“She’s stable but she hasn’t woken up yet.”

“That’s something… Do you think you have time to xray my arm or should I just go to A and E?”

“I can take a look. I didn’t know you were so badly hurt, sorry.”

“No, no. She was priority. It turns out all the noise pulled in some police attention, so now we’ve collected the canisters and Johns weaponry we’re heading back. We found the thing blocking coms before, it was behind the sofa. It was in pieces when we found it. We’ve bagged the bodies so they’ll be sent over tomorrow.”

“And I’ll be asleep.” 

“It’s not that late.”

“No, but I am that tired. See you when you get back.” He tapped his earpiece off again and went to change his gloves, not wanting to contaminate anything with the venom or blood he’d washed away. He’d expected John to have wandered off or gone to sit down but he was still watching Melody sleep. “What made you want to help her?”

“Boredom… She looked like she needed someone… To be honest I don’t even know why I left the hotel room. One moment I was sleeping and the next I felt like I needed to head out. Get some air.”

“So instead of going to the pub you came here?”

“I don’t understand it either.” He shrugged. “Why are you so interested?”

“Sudden changes in personality are a pretty big warning sign.”

“You didn’t know me way back when.”

A slight whimper pulled both of their attentions to Melody who was finally coming round. 

“Easy there princess. I don’t want you moving too soon.” Owen said.

She opened an unfocused eye and stared into the middle distance. 

“Melody? Can you talk to me sweetheart?”

She murmured a little and turned her head from him, trying fruitlessly to move away. 

“It’s ok, you’re back at the hub. You’re safe… It’s me, ok?”

“O… Owen?... What…”

“Yea, there we go. The venom and being thrown around did a bit of a number on you. Nothing’s broken though.”

“Snake… Bit me.”

“Yea, he did. But he’s dead.”

She scrunched up her nose a little. “Mouth… Tastes like death.” 


	8. Ouroboros

Gwen peeked into the medical bay as soon as they got back and saw Melody sitting up, nursing a cup of water, quietly chatting to Owen. She’d seen John passed out on the sofa and decided to let Jack wake him up. 

“Here comes my next patient.” The doctor gestured for her to sit on the chair he’d been occupying only moments before. 

She did and carefully slid off her jacket. Her arm was red and swollen, the early signs of deep bruising running up and under her sleeve. To keep her mind off the pain she turned her attention to Melody. “How are you feeling?”

“A little bit nauseous and sore, but I’ll be ok.” The blond woman replied, keeping her eyes on her drink. “Does your arm hurt?”

“A bit, yea.” She smiled, knowing this was just smalltalk. 

Owen stepped in. “Can you move your fingers?”

She slowly moved her fingers, wincing. 

“That’s a good sign. Now keep still.” He ran a scanner just above her arm, examining the bone. “And you got doubly lucky. No break, just a nasty bone bruise. Ice it three times a day, take painkillers if it gets too bad and I’ll get you strapped up so you don’t move it too much.” 

“Aww you’re too good to me.” She said with every bit of good humoured sarcasm she could. 

Mel laughed softly at them. 

“It’s nice to see you smiling. I was worried we’d have to call Martha and find a UNIT hospital or something.”

Owen grinned. “Not on my watch. Anyway, they wouldn’t have had the technology to make an effective antivenom in time.”

“Really?”

“This isn’t just antivenom, this is Torchwood antivenom.”

“Trying to get hired by Marks and sparks advertising team now?” 

“You never know. If the rift ever closes and aliens stop dropping their rubbish all over the sodding place I might need a job to fall back on.” 

“Says the doctor.”

“Cushy job in a recording studio or going back to shift work, hmm.”

“Point.”

He carefully placed her arm in a sling. “You know the drill anyway from when Rhys did the same thing.”

“At least I have a better story for it. Speaking of, I’ll actually get to tell him tonight.”

John opened one eye and noted Jack looking down at him. “Dressed already?”

“You’re on the sofa.”

“Yea, and it’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever slept on.” He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, a low ache that was more likely caused by being thrown into crates than napping on the sofa. “Fun size is ok. She was pretty shaken last I saw her, but alive.”

Jack held out a box. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.” 

He took it and lifted the lid, finding all the weapons that had been taken from him, minus one katana. He’d already replaced it so that wasn’t a big problem. The one he’d been most worried about losing was the first sonic blaster he’d ever been given. It was before the time agency, when he was barely a teenager, lost with his friend and his friends older brother. The older brother had handed it to him and told him that he needed to survive no matter what. Something had been hunting them through the snow and it was getting closer. He could smell its breath on the air, see clouds of condensation rising into the air every so often when the beast lifted its head. There was no running in the snow. Only a constant, slow, fight against the deep blanket of ice. It had only been a matter of time before the creature made its move. His friend had been pulled below in the blink of an eye, not even having time to scream. The older brother had frantically dug through the snow to find his younger sibling but found only spots of blood. They’d attempted to make for higher ground, pulling themselves up towards the side of one of the great mountains and John had gotten pretty far. He was lighter and more agile than the older man who, though much stronger, was held back by his stocky build. The creature had grabbed the brothers leg in its razor tooth filled jaw and thrashed until it came loose. John had managed to grab one of the ropes tied to the brothers pack and dragged him up onto a small ledge. The creature still circling down below. It had been the first time he’d seen that much blood as the brother had tied a rope around the stump of his leg. 

“Listen… I’m not going to make it but you can. If you keep going for another two hours you’ll reach a military outpost. They can help you there.” The man had said, his skin looking grey and clammy. John remembered begging not to be left alone, but there was no other way of surviving. He remembered his tears freezing on his cheeks as he’d walked away, hearing the man consumed by the beast that had clawed its way up.

He took the blaster from the box, the familiar weight of it giving him a moment of comfort. 

“Thanks Jack.”

Jack shrugged, a smile on his face. “You helped us out and Mel wouldn’t have survived if you hadn’t been there. So, what now? You’ve got everything back. The snake’s dead. You’re looking healed up.” 

“I don’t know. I’m thinking of finding someone decent to travel with and just see where life takes me.”

“Someone decent?”

“Yea. I’m getting tired of looking over my shoulder all the time… How’s Gray?” 

He sat on the sofa next to John. “He’s trying but… He’s so damaged I think there’s only so much that can be done for him.”

“Everything that happened with him. I’m… I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have gotten him help sooner but I was so wrapped up in travelling, finding you… In the future would you consider coming with me? I mean you’ve got forever-”

“John-”

“Hear me out. I don’t mean in this lifetime. You and eye candy over there make the most of whatever this is, but after… If I clean up my act. We could be like we used to be.”

“It was fun but I’m not the man you knew anymore.”

“Well by then maybe we can both be different. Just… Think about it.” 

He sighed. “Ok. I’ll think about it.” 

John nodded and stood, tucking the box under his arm. “And if fun size ever gets too sick of being left behind, she’s welcome to join me. Who knows, maybe I can collect the set.”

“Not a chance in hell.” He laughed, sincerely hoping the man was winding him up. 

With a final grin a portal opened and John stepped through, leaving no trace behind. 

Ianto collapsed backwards onto Jacks bed, ready for the day to be over. His car had been towed back so he could deal with the damage to the windscreen in the morning, but he still had what to do about Rhiannon on his mind. 

“So-” Jack began, sliding into bed next to him, “what was this family emergency about?” 

He sighed and buried his face in the crook of his lovers neck. “Apep gave my sister photos of me in the field and she decided that meant I was in a gang or something.”

“Need a hand clearing that up?”

“I will do, but for now Mel’s helped me convince her I work for MI5. They’re staying at a hotel because of a burst pipe at theirs so I can get some space. I really don’t want to have to retcon them.” 

Jack tangled his fingers in the back of Iantos hair. “I’ll do it.”

“Yes, that’s a great first meeting. Hi, I’m your brothers… partner?”

“You can say boyfriend. I promise I won’t run for the hills.”

“I never know with you. Anyway, hi, nice to meet you. Here have this drink so you forget any of this ever happened. You’ll wake up in a random hotel with no clue as to how you got there or why, and can’t go home because your living room looks like a swimming pool.” 

“Then lets think about it in the morning. How’s your back?”

“Bruised but it could be worse. Gwen fell harder than I did.”

“I told her to rest tomorrow but she said she had things to do here.”

“Like checking on everyone else?”

“Exactly. It’s almost as if phones aren’t a thing that exist.”

Ianto chuckled. “By the way if you’re still paranoid about Mels girlfriend she says she wants to meet her Cardiff friends.”

“And we’re avoiding that.”

“Like the plague. Gwen might want to.”

“Does Melody even like the idea?”

“Nope. But she’s hoping that it’ll distract from the bruises and bite mark on her shoulder. I told her that if the woman can deal with the chunks of metal attached to her spine she can handle a mysterious animal bite.” 

“I’d be more worried if she doesn’t ask about it.”

“Any new theories about her?”

“Knowing Mel, this Heather’ll turn out to be an alien that wants to harvest human brains or something.”

“What if she is just an alien?”

Jack turned off the lamp and closed his eyes. “If she’s not a threat, has nowhere else to go, and stays ignorant of Torchwood then I’ll give them my blessing.” 

Owen had insisted on keeping an eye on Mel overnight so he was camping on her sofa. It was actually rather comfortable as sofas go and she’d given him a spare duvet that she kept for summer. He’d quietly chatted with Tosh for half an hour or so before she began to drop off and they decided to hang up and get some sleep. It would be the first night in a long time he’d spent without her and it had become such an alien sensation. He found himself rolling over and reaching out, only to be disappointed when he found she wasn’t next to him. He’d got three hours sleep before he heard Melodys bedroom door open. He knew there was a chance that the antivenom could cause nausea so he rubbed his eyes and sat up. 

“Mel? Are you ok?” He asked sleepily. 

A shape that looked like her seemed to drift slowly across the room, dressed in a teeshirt that must have been around three sizes too big, the neckline hanging off her shoulder. Not a bad idea as it wouldn’t rest over the dressing. 

He watched her walk over to the far window and stop. “Mel?” Untangling himself from the duvet he padded over to her, realising very swiftly that she was sleepwalking. Though her eyes were open they certainly weren’t looking at anything physically there. He’d decided it was safe to check as he would only be looking at one eye at a time so it shouldn’t have triggered her telepathy. He’d never risked looking so closely at her eyes before. He’d assumed they were grey but on closer inspection they did seem to be silver. Each iris had a slight metallic sheen to it. He’d been so intent on her eyes that he hadn’t realised she was talking to herself. He closed his eyes and listened.

“Fire… What is that?... So many eyes… The sky…”

“Melody? What are you looking at?”

She didn’t look at him but she did stop and consider what she’d been asked. When she spoke again her words were a little clearer. “The sky is on fire. It’s so bright.”

He looked out of the window at the clear autumn night, the moon beaming cold white light across the area.

“It has so many eyes and they’re all screaming… They don’t want to die… Don’t want to be one… The rain smells like blood.”

“Yea, ok, sounds like you’re having a nightmare. Why don’t you go back to bed?”

She turned to look at him, their eyes meeting. He jolted away but nothing had happened. Risking another glance he met her gaze, seeing her irises reflect the light from the window. She sighed and slowly drifted back to her room, climbing into bed and closing her eyes again. It was a side effect of the antivenom. Of course it was. Her body was desperately trying to heal whilst a war raged between the toxin and the cure, so of course her sleep would be messed up. She had a history of sleepwalking so it shouldn’t have been such a shock. He closed the bedroom door as quietly as he could and took another look out of the window, a shiver running down his spine, before closing the curtains and returning to his warm cocoon on the sofa. 

Ianto awoke late so Jack had already got up. If it had been a weekend he would have stayed but Torchwood called, disturbing their little pocket of normality. He dragged himself out of bed and padded to the shower. The hot water stung where it fell on his bruised skin but it soon dulled and the heat became comforting. He needed to deal with Rhiannon sooner rather than later but he still hadn’t settled on any specific plan. He could wait until Jack got back though he wasn’t so sure about how much that would help. He dried off and got dressed , ready to start his day, then headed up into the hub proper. Tosh and Gwen were sat chatting.

“Morning.” Gwen called, her arm still in a sling but looking a lot less swollen, if a little more purple. 

Tosh smiled, looking a little sleepy. “Good morning.” 

“Morning. Coffee?” He asked, already heading to the machine.

“Please… Where’s Jack?”

“No idea. He was already out when I woke up.”

“Do you think he’s brooding on the roof?” Gwen asked, only partially joking.

“If he is he should be back down soon.”

Tosh almost jumped up as she saw Owen enter the room, instead she gave him a slight wave and a warm smile. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind, planting a kiss on her cheek. 

“Why do you smell like chocolate?” She asked, leaning into him.

He’d hoped noone would notice. “I took a shower this morning and Mels bathroom smells like a cake shop. She has this little basket with bath bombs in it that look like fairy cakes and everything. Interior design by Willy Wonka.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. 

Melody pouted a little, blushing. “I put away the sparkly ones.”

“Why would you put glitter in soap? You’d step out of the shower looking like you’re going to a secondary school disco.” 


	9. Corn snake

Micah looked out of the car window as they pulled into the pick up and drop off area of Cardiff airport. “Wait… I thought you were taking me to prison.” 

“For what? The weapons you were buying don’t exist for the police and there’s no evidence left of the dalek.” Jack handed him his passport and wallet. “We got these from Apeps body. You have enough money to get home.”

“So… That’s it? I just go?”

“Yes.”

“What about Zach?”

He gave Micah a look that told him everything he needed to know. 

“Oh… Right.”

“Listen, you have a chance that not many people get. Get on a plane to wherever and start over.”

“I can’t do that alone, I-”

“Donny would have wanted you to escape your little town and have a real life, right?”

“Yea… Yea, he would.”

“So go. Forget us and everything you’ve seen here.”

He gripped his passport and swallowed down tears. “Thank you.” 

“Don’t make me regret it.”

He nodded and opened the SUV door, climbing out and closing it behind him, not looking back. 

Ianto sat in the chair that had been pulled over next to Melody. “Are you sure you don’t want a day at home?” He asked, noting how tired and green she looked. 

“I’m fine. I’ll just take it easy today. How are you?”

“Me?”

“It looked like Apep was … Well… You were suffering.” 

He hadn’t given himself the chance to think about it. It wouldn’t be the first time an alien had tried to kill him. “I’m stronger than I look… About yesterday-”

“I went against a direct order, I know.” She began playing with a folded post it note, keeping her eyes on it. 

“Actually I wanted to thank you. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did I don’t know how much longer I would have lasted, and there’s no chance I could have fought off the guards. Though, if you were that intent on being a field agent why didn’t you say anything?”

“W-what? No. I don’t. I like my job here.”

“Then why have you been so upset when we-”

“Because if the world’s ending, and if you’re all out then it probably is, I don’t want to be stuck here alone. I’d rather go down fighting than sitting and waiting. If I hadn’t gone and tried to help I might never have known what happened. Every minute that I’m here not knowing is… It’s painful… I’m fine when you’re all off on different jobs or doing low risk stuff. It’s just...If there’s even the smallest chance I could save one of you, then that’s a chance I want to take.” 

“Even if you end up getting hurt?”

“I get hurt sitting at home.”

“Not to this extent.”

“You know what I mean… People seem to want to protect me or kill me, no in between, so I want to be worth the trouble.”

“Melody,” he gently took the note and placed it aside, “you don’t have to earn people wanting to protect you. If worst comes to worst and you want to face it with us then I’ll vouch for you, but don’t put yourself in harms way because you feel obligated.”

She smiled softly. “Thanks.”

“I was actually considering increasing your access level.”

“Really?”

“Well, at this point it seems ridiculous that you have to bring me mislabelled files to put away when you’re able to read them and know exactly where they’re meant to go.” 

“If you think that I’m ready then I’m happy to accept.”

“Good. I’ll talk to Tosh in a bit and she can upgrade your pass.” 

She seemed to relax, her cheery disposition fighting through her fatigue. “Oh, have you heard from your sister?” 

“Not yet.” He frowned. “I still don’t know what to do. I don’t want to retcon her.”

“I mean if you want I could just modify her memory. Just removing the photos and the whole mess of holding you hostage shouldn’t be difficult at all.”

“What would you replace it with?”

“That your place was being redecorated so they couldn’t stay there and the hotel was the best other option.”

“Why didn’t I think of saying that in the first place.” He almost facepalmed. “It’s still changing their memories but your way is gentler. Do you think you’ll be ok with how you’re feeling?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not fighting through defensive measures or anything so it’ll be no problem.” 

As Jack walked back into the hub he noticed Gwens car was missing. It had been left in the hub carpark the night before because she couldn’t drive with her arm injured as it was, so where had it gone. 

“Gwen, where’s your car?” He asked, seeing her slowly typing up a report. 

She looked up. “Oh hello stranger. I lent it to Ianto so he could go and see his sister.”

“Huh… Did he decide what he was going to do about all that?”

“All what?”

“Nothing. I needed to ask you a favour actually.”

“Depends what it is.” She smirked, turning her chair to face him.

“Melodys girlfriend wants to meet her Cardiff friends, so I want you to say yes if she asks.”

“Ok… I mean I probably would have anyway but is there any reason why?” 

“If I tell you then she’ll know.”

“Riiight.”

“I trust your instincts.”

“Won’t she know you asked me to say yes?”

“If you were going to anyway then just go with it.” He shrugged.

“Very helpful.”

“I try.”

“Where’ve you been then?”

“I took Micah to the airport. What he does from this point is up to him.”

She gave a sympathetic look. “He really was heartbroken. Alien stuff aside he didn’t seem like an evil person.”

“That’s why I let him go. He has to live with what he did, and for him, that’s punishment enough.” 

Ianto walked up to the hotel room door and knocked, a small part of him hoping noone would answer. That hope was dashed as Rhiannon opened the door. 

“Hello. Is everything alright? We don’t have to move again do we? It’s just the kids are having fun and-”

He gave her a soft smile. “You don’t have to go anywhere. Can we come in?”

“Oh, yea. Sorry, I’ve got you standing in the hall.” She stepped back and let Ianto, closely followed by Melody, in. “So, what’s wrong?” She walked over to sit on the end of the bed. 

He took a seat in one of the soft chairs. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Did you get him?”

“We did, but not without a few injuries.”

Melody shot him a questioning look as the whole point of their visit was to remove Torchwood related memories. Then again, he likely wouldn’t get another chance to be so honest with her. 

Rhiannon picked up on the mood almost instantly. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”

“No,” he continued, “it’s fine. Honestly any day we all come back from is a good day.”

“Ianto…”

“I was a bit surprised you didn’t suspect something when I came back from London. The timing being a bit too perfect, but I suppose it’s always been like that.”

“What are you talking about? London? What happened in London?”

Melody carefully placed a gentle hand on his shoulder but he barely reacted. 

“Ianto, you’re starting to scare me.”

“Canary wharf. Rhi I was there.”

“The terrorist attack?” Her eyes were wide and the confidence she’d had before slipped away. 

He let out a bitter laugh. “It wasn’t a terrorist attack. Those cybermen were real… They’re why you never met Lisa.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. I wish you could have told me.”

“Funny thing is I could have when it first happened. I just knew you’d never believe me.”

“Of course I-”

“No, you wouldn’t. You’ve always thought I exaggerated everything. Everyone else got the benefit of the doubt, even when I had evidence. Not that it matters now.”

She reached out and took his hands. “Of course it bloody matters… I’m sorry for not believing you more, but look at what you’ve been hiding for so long Mr secret agent.”

He was silent for a long moment before he heard the door rattle. Johnny and the kids practically burst in. 

“Oh. Hello. Didn’t expect any visitors. We were just down at breakfast.” Johnny said with a smile. 

Mica gave a huge grin. “Hi uncle Ianto. It’s so cool here. Dad says we can go swimming later because they have a pool inside.” She said enthusiastically, bouncing over and sitting next to her mum.

David had seen Melody and tried to hide behind his dad without anyone noticing. Usually he was a bit boisterous but he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the new woman. His dad wasn’t playing along, walking through to sit on the other side of Rhiannon. 

Mel gave the boy a polite smile, hoping to ease the tension. “Cool bag.” She said, noticing the pokemon gym badges pinned to the side. “Did you choose black or white?”

“I got black and Mica got white.” He replied, his cheeks going red. 

“Yea? Which starter did you pick? I liked tepig but I always get the fire starter so I went for oshawott.” 

Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m glad someone understands what they’re going on about. The only one I know is pikachu.”

“Daad, theres so many. I showed you.” Mica pouted slightly as if she’d taken hours out of her busy day to teach him the names of the whole list. 

“Sorry sweetheart, looks like my memory isn’t what it used to be.”

David had silently taken his DS out of his bag and loaded up the game, showing Mel the screen displaying a level twenty pignite. She gave him a thumbs up to which he gave a bashful smile and retreated to the back of the room to play his game, peeking over the screen every so often at her. 

Ianto sighed. “Melody… You should... You know…”

“Oh, yes.” She nodded before turning back to the family. Her voice became musical and soothing, like a distant lullaby. “Sleep now.” She rushed round to catch Davids DS before it hit the floor and let him fall back onto the pillows before slipping it under his hand. Ianto helped Rhiannon lay back, Mica curled up on her arm, and made sure Johnny didn’t fall off the bed. “Are you ok?” She asked, her voice sounding normal. 

Ianto nodded. “I just… I needed to get that off my chest.” 

“I understand. Do you want to be here for this?”

“I should stay.”

She nodded and took a seat in the other soft chair, her face going blank as she began the process of modifying their memories. He knew this had to happen somehow but it still felt wrong. Just another unpleasant part of the job. An unpleasant part he wished didn’t fall to him so often. At least he had someone with him who understood the consequences, and ethical problem, of memory modification. Sometimes he thought Torchwood as a whole relied a bit too much on retcon as if the drug was the easy answer for most problems. He knew from personal experience that it wasn’t. At least this method wasn’t completely wiping a day of memories, just tweaking the events a little. It was two hours until she was done. 

“There. When they wake up they’ll have no idea of what you do for work. The only thing they’ll remember is that you visited them yesterday because you were worried and I happened to be with you because you were giving me a lift home. Removing people completely is hard so I just changed the context of my existence.”

“Thanks. I mean it.”

“I’m always happy to help. We’re friends after all.” She smiled softly. “Now, we should probably get back. I think I need a lie down in a dark room.” 


End file.
